BIOL 118: Perspectives in Biology: Plants and People (HC) Spring 2020

• Information research is an iterative process, meaning a cycle rather than a straight line.
   
  • Brainstorm search words -->
  • Explore initial search results -->
  • Refine your research question, and add or remove search words based on your initial search -->
  • Conduct a more targeted search -->
  • Repeat! -->
    <--  <--  <--

Example topic from Professor Wilson's syllabus:

Cultivation of yaupon, a tea plant native to North America with deep roots in Native American and Gullah culture

Step 1: Break up this research question into two or three main concepts. Ignore extraneous words.

• Concept #1: yaupon 
• Concept #2: cultivation

Step 2: Conduct an initial search with these words, and quickly scan the results. 

Step 3: Using information from your initial search, add synonyms, acronyms, and variant spellings.

• Concept #1: yaupon, Ilex vomitoria
• Concept #2: cultivation, propagation, grow, horticulture

• Even if the search engine you are using doesn't require you to enter boolean operators, it is still using them behind the scenes. It will help you to know the logic behind your search
  .
• AND gives you results that include ALL of your concepts.
   
• OR gives you results that include ANY of your concepts.
  ​
• Essentially, you are searching:​

(yaupon OR Ilex vomitoria) AND (cultivation OR propagation OR grow OR horticulture)